Nationals starters tossed 880.6 innings last year, with Redding and Perez accounting for nearly 40% of that. The Nats paid those veterans $1.85MM. This year, they’ll spend $5.4MM on Olsen and Cabrera, younger hurlers with upside. It’s a solid swap. With the return of John Lannan and the emerging Jordan Zimmermann, it’s a younger, more interesting rotation.

I wrote in September:

Hopefully Jim Bowden won’t become too obsessed with Adam Dunn this winter (assuming Bowden keeps his job). Dunn doesn’t fit on this team. They’re in the beginning of a long rebuilding process.

It turns out Bowden kept his job just long enough to sign Dunn, who probably won’t be a part of the next good Nationals team. The money would’ve been better spent on the June draft – the Nats have the #1 and #10 picks. The Nationals’ new GM will have to hit a home run with that draft, and may also be charged with trading Nick Johnson and signing Ryan Zimmerman long-term.

If a $20MM commitment to Dunn was Bowden’s worst winter move, though, that’s not too bad in the grand scheme of things. And Bowden does deserve a parting gift for his acquisition of Olsen and Willingham.

Bottom line: Bowden’s out; 2009 is about finding the right GM and stocking the farm system.